Six Episodes, 24 Treasures, and Plenty of Surprises

Six episodes into Cinema Relics’ The Saga Vault, 24 extraordinary artifacts have been pulled from some of the world’s greatest Star Wars collections. The result has been rare history, unexpected contenders, spirited debate, and more than a few surprises.

The series began with Mandalorians, which remains the most watched episode and drew the largest audience vote of the first six. Steve Sansweet entered one of the most legendary toys in Star Wars collecting, a Kenner rocket firing Boba Fett prototype, against rare Mandalorian treasures presented by Gus Lopez, Duncan Jenkins, and Vic Wertz.

With the studio vote unable to produce a clear winner, viewers made the final decision and selected Steve’s figure as the first artifact inducted into the Vault, setting the stage for every competition that followed.

Episode 2, Darth Vader, turned one character into four radically different collecting arguments. Steve brought a gold vacuum metalized Darth Vader carrying case prototype. Lisa Stevens presented a carded double telescoping Vader figure assembled for the 1978 Toy Fair. Gus Lopez revealed Ralph McQuarrie’s original “Vader in Flames” artwork, while Duncan Jenkins offered a wonderfully unexpected pair of vintage Vader fuzzy slippers.

Their discussion became one of the series’ clearest examinations of what makes an artifact museum worthy: rarity, historical significance, beauty, nostalgia, or immediate public appeal.

The studio chose Gus’s McQuarrie artwork by a narrow 3 to 2 vote, and viewers ultimately agreed.

Then came the season’s biggest controversy. In Crew Gifts, Steve, Gus, Vic Wertz, and Rebel Force Radio’s Jimmy Mac presented artifacts normally seen only by the people who helped make the films. Gus brought goblets exchanged between The Empire Strikes Back production and the Hotel Finse in Norway. Jimmy presented a The Force Awakens crew jacket, while Steve shared a “Trilogy Archival Restoration” paperweight.

Vic’s Charles Lippincott production binder challenged the category itself: it was an extraordinary production used artifact, but was it really a crew gift? Viewers answered decisively, giving the binder more than 70 percent of the vote.

Behind the Iron Curtain brought together Anne Neumann, Lisa Stevens, Gus Lopez, and Duncan Jenkins for a journey through Star Wars collecting in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. Anne’s Soviet “Space for Peace” propaganda poster competed against Lisa’s Russian movie poster, Gus’s Hungarian board game artwork, and Duncan’s Yugoslavian novelization.

For the first time in the series, every collector in the studio agreed on the same artifact, unanimously choosing Anne’s poster. Viewers agreed, giving it 63% of the vote.

The competition could not have been closer in Holy Grails. Gus, Duncan, Anne, and Red Dodge arrived with four deeply personal definitions of the ultimate treasure: a production made Luke Skywalker lightsaber, an unopened 1979 Pine-Sol bottle, rare Neiman Marcus Star Wars jewelry, and an autographed book once owned by Carrie Fisher and personally given to Red. 

The episode asked whether a Holy Grail is defined by rarity, cultural importance, personal meaning, or the years spent searching for it.

In the end, Gus’s lightsaber defeated Duncan’s wonderfully unexpected Pine-Sol bottle by just nine votes, the narrowest margin of the series so far.

Episode 6, Furthest From, ventured into the wonderfully strange world of international collecting. Gus presented a handmade souvenir of Tunisia’s Hotel Sidi Driss, the filming location for the Lars homestead interiors. Steve brought a Turkish Uzay Imperial Gunner bootleg, Vic revealed Japan’s R2-7-Eleven HomeStar planetarium, and Duncan presented an Italian landspeeder memorably renamed the “Hovercraft Scooter.”

It also became the only episode in which none of the collectors voted for their own artifact. After the studio vote split between Steve’s Uzay figure and Gus’s Tunisian souvenir, viewers chose Steve’s Turkish Imperial Gunner for the Vault.

The artifacts may drive the competition, but the stories behind them are what make The Saga Vault special. Each episode offers a closer look at the history of Star Wars memorabilia and an early glimpse of what visitors may one day experience together at The Saga Museum.

Whether you are discovering the series for the first time or ready to relive every surprise, controversy, and unforgettable showdown, catch up on the first six episodes of The Saga Vault now on Cinema Relics.